


Quod unum sumus

by Demerite



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Bisexual Disaster Eddie Brock, Eddie is fine, First Dates, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Read the warnings, Tinder, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 04:49:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17440256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demerite/pseuds/Demerite
Summary: Eddie tries Tinder. Venom has opinions.





	1. In serie prima

**Author's Note:**

> [Yes this is a reupload, I needed to fix some things.]
> 
> Please read the tags, be aware of your own comfort levels, and click through to the endnote if you need more details on the warnings

 

**_What are you doing?_ **

 

“Tinder.” Eddie leans back on the couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table, narrowly avoiding an empty take-out box and his bottle of beer, condensation beading on the glass in the oppressive heat. 

 

**_What’s tinder?_ **

 

“Don’t you get coy with me, you know what tinder is.” Eddie shoots back. In the back of his mind, Venom gives off an impression of what might be pouting. 

 

The symbiote manifests their head next to Eddie’s and peers over his shoulder at the phone. 

 

**_He’s ugly._ **

 

“Vee, that’s rude.” He swipes left anyway. 

 

**_It’s true._ **

 

“Yes, but we’ve talked about this, you can’t just go around insulting people, Vee.” Eddie swipes through a few more profiles, sighing internally. He’s really not all that fussy when it comes to casual sex, which is honestly all he’s looking for at the moment, there’s no way he can deal with a relationship as well as having a parasitic alien life-form riding around inside of him. 

 

**_Not a parasite._ **

 

Eddie doesn’t dignify Venom’s whining with a response, and keeps swiping. 

 

***

 

Venom waits until his date has excused himself to the bathroom before making their opinion known. Eddie supposes he should at least be grateful for that.   


 

**_We don’t like him._ **

 

“You don’t like anyone.” Eddie mutters back, ducking his head so it isn’t so obvious that he’s talking to himself in the middle of the restaurant. 

 

**_We like you._ **

 

“You need me to survive. Bit different.” He takes a sip of his water. 

 

**_Can we eat him?_ **

 

“No!” He nearly chokes on the water, setting the glass down hurriedly 

 

**_How about just his head?_ **

 

“NO!”

 

***

 

**_She’s nice._ **

 

Eddie sips his coffee to disguise any reaction that might show on his face. 

 

**_She looks like Anne. We like Anne._ **

 

“Goddamnit.” Eddie can’t stop the expletive from slipping out, and his date, Sophie, gives him a confused look. 

  
“I’m sorry?” She asks.

 

Eddie winces, “Burnt my mouth.” He lies quickly, gesturing with his coffee cup, “Coffee.” he adds lamely. 

 

She gives him a look like he’s a weirdo, but he’s kind of used to that by now. 

 

***

 

**_We really don’t like him, Eddie._ **

 

“Too bad, we’re taking him home.” Eddie gives Venom what he hopes comes across as the mental equivalent of a stern look.“And I want you to behave yourself.” He looks across to the bar to where his latest date, Luke, is settling the tab. Eddie had offered to pay, but Luke had insisted. 

 

Venom mutters something about eating Luke’s head, but there isn’t any real malice in it, and settles down at the back of Eddie’s mind, or wherever it is that they go when they’re not at the forefront, providing snarky commentary. 

 

“Ready to go?” Luke asks, back now, and Eddie nods, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair. 

 

“Yeah.” He smiles widely, and it only feels a little bit forced, so that’s nice. 

 

They take a cab back to Eddie’s apartment, because Eddie planned ahead for once, and didn’t come here on his bike. Luke is kinda forward, Eddie thinks as the guy leans against him, and mumbles something dirty into his ear, breath hot against Eddie’s neck, but at least he’s direct about it. 

 

Dimly, he can detect mockery from Venom, but apart from that the symbiote keeps their peace. 

 

They make it out of the cab, and up the stairs in Eddie’s building, and into the apartment. Eddie has barely got the front door closed before Luke basically throws himself at him, getting his hands on either side of Eddie’s face and all but shoving his tongue down Eddie throat. Its a little clumsy, and a lot more than Eddie had been expecting, but his body has missed this, and so he wraps his arms around Luke’s waist and kisses back, tries to remember what losing himself in someone else feels like. 

 

And it almost works. 

 

They make it to the bed before Eddie starts having second thoughts. Luke’s sprawled over him, still kissing him hungrily, hands seemingly everywhere, tugging roughly though Eddie’s hair, nails scratching on his scalp, pushing up under his shirt to press against his sides, then trailing down to Eddie’s crotch to cup his dick through his jeans, and Eddie is shoving him away, scrambling backwards across the bed before he realises what he’s doing. 

 

For a moment he thinks that this is Venom is acting up, that the symbiote has taken control of his movements, but Venom is no more than a near-silent buzz in the back of his mind, almost as if they’re asleep. No, this was all Eddie. 

 

Luke gives him a look that is all confusion and hurt and barely-controlled lust. 

 

“You okay?” he asks, leaning down towards Eddie, and it _sounds_ genuine, but something is just a tiny bit off in the way he says it. 

 

Eddie’s sure it isn’t meant to be intimidating, but it kind of feels that way. He rubs a hand quickly over his face, shakes his head to clear it. He’s okay. Probably. 

 

“Yeah.” He says, because Luke seems a decent enough guy, if in a bit of a hurry, “Sorry.”  
  
“Hey, no problem.” Luke sits down on the edge of the bed and reaches out to Eddie without actually asking if it’s okay, and Eddie feels Venom stirring in the back of his mind, a low rumble of irritation crossing their bond. He ignores it.

 

“I can go.” Luke says, in a tone that suggests he really doesn’t want to. 

 

“Nah.” Eddie shakes his head, ignoring the anxiety in the pit of his stomach (and actually, that could be Venom too). 

 

“Good.” Luke pushes into his space again, and Eddie fights back the desire the flinch away from him. 

 

He tries, he really tries. Tries to stop his mind from thinking, tries to stop the anxiety from growing in him, but when Luke undoes his belt and gets his hand inside Eddie’s underwear, it’s too much, and Eddie gets his hands in between them, palms flat against Luke’s chest, and pushes him away again, already mumbling apologies. 

 

“What the hell?” Luke sounds angry now, and Eddie backs up, just a little bit, across the bed. Venom stirs, floating up a little closer to the surface of his mind, as if they’re taking a look at the situation. Eddie finds he’s fiercely glad of it all of a sudden. 

 

“Look, I’m sorry.” He says, “I think you should go.” He slides off the mattress, hands fumbling with his belt, wanting to get it done back up again, to have any meagre measure of protection, and Luke is once more in his space, crowing him against the wall, and Eddie is abruptly so done with this shit it’s unbelievable. 

 

“I said,” he grits out, trying to replace his fear with anger, “I think you should go.” 

 

Luke doesn’t seem to hear him, pressing one thigh up between Eddie’s legs and mouthing along his jaw in a way that should have been sexy, but makes Eddie’s skin crawl. 

 

“Stop it.” he says, trying to push the other man off him. 

 

Luke doesn’t stop, grabbing at Eddie’s belt again. 

 

“Stop!” Eddie shoves at him, and he’s actually properly scared now. His pulse spikes, and he feels Venom uncoiling in his mind, something close to rage building up below the surface. 

 

“Come on, you know you want it.” Luke growls in his ear, and that’s what does it for Eddie. 

 

“Hey V,” He says it out loud, because he doesn’t give a fuck anymore, and suddenly Venom is right there. 

 

**_Bad guy?_** Venom asks, and Eddie can’t quite name the rush of emotion that washes through him. 

 

“Don’t kill him.” Eddie mutters back, “But yes, bad guy.” 

 

**_Fine._** With a put-upon sounding sigh, Venom slides over Eddie’s form, and turns their pale eyes and many, many teeth on Luke. 

 

Eddie looks just long enough to know that the asshole won’t be permanently damaged, and then he squeezes his eyes shut.

 

***

 

He comes back to himself at the sound of his front door slamming. Venom is mostly hidden again, only their head still out, peering cautiously at Eddie’ face. 

 

**_“Eddie?”_** Venom’s voice is in his head and outside of it at once, and it’s kind of disorienting. 

 

“Yeah.” He mumbles, dragging himself up from the floor. He looks around the apartment. The bedsheets are a mess, his pillow and half the things from on top of the nightstand are on the floor, but there’s no blood, which is probably a good thing. “I’m here.” 

 

Seemingly satisfied by this, Venom retreats fully, but stays near the surface, a comforting and familiar weight in his mind. 

 

He stumbles across the apartment to the front door. His hands feel heavy and uncoordinated as he locks it, sliding the chain into place. He checks and double-checks it, then drags himself into the bathroom. 

 

Venom doesn’t say anything until he’s standing under the hot water, hotter than he can usually stand, scrubbing viciously at his skin with the soap. 

 

**_You are scrubbing too hard._ **

 

“Think I’m scrubbing just hard enough.” Eddie snarls back.

 

**_We are clean._** Venom’s tone is firm, but not angry. 

 

“Nope.” Eddie scrubs harder, gritting his teeth. 

 

The soap is whipped out of his hand and flung, violently, across the room to smack wetly against the tiles, and slide off under the tub. He glares after it. The water shuts off. 

 

“Venom!” He snaps. 

 

**_We are clean._** Venom repeats, and they’re still not angry, so that’s nice. **_You do not have to fear. He will not come back. We made sure of it._**

 

Eddie’s legs are shaking, and he sits down in the tub before he can fall on his ass because that would just be humiliating. He’s not sure how long he sits there for. His world fades into the steady drip of the leaky shower-head, the rapidly cooling water on his skin, and Venom’s voice in his mind, repeating over and over again that they’re safe, that there’s nothing to fear, that no-one can hurt them, that they won’t _let_ anyone hurt them, that Luke isn't coming back. 

 

Eddie lets himself sink into the reassurances because what the hell, he’s seen Venom take on a whole lot more than one creep in his apartment. But he knows that isn’t all of why he’s so rattled, knows that Luke’s simple refusal to take no for answer, the way he kept on pushing it and pushing it long past anything Eddie was comfortable with is what’s really getting to him. 

 

Shaking with the cold, cramped muscles protesting, Eddie drags himself to his feet, and leaning heavily against the wall, makes his way back into the apartment proper. 

 

He doesn’t look at the bed, instead going straight for the closet; finding sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt, pulling them on with sharp, jerky movements. 

 

He doesn’t look at the bed as he picks his pillow up from the floor, or as he drags the spare blanket he keeps for winter out of the top of the closet, bundling the obnoxiously bright red fabric into his arms. 

 

Venom hasn’t stopped telling him they’re safe yet, their voice a comforting litany of sound, even if he isn’t listening to the words themselves. The meaning is there, the intent. The idea that they’re safe. 

 

Eddie settles onto the sofa, lying on his side against it’s back, the blanket warm over him, a comforting weight, grounding him. He shifts around a little, trying to get comfortable, his head resting on one end of the pillow, his arms wrapped tight around the other, because it’s something to hold onto. He focuses on slowing his breathing. 

 

Eventually, when he no longer feels breathless or like his heart is going to explode, he speaks. 

 

“Thanks, Venom.” His voice barely shakes, and that’s great, that’s good. He’s going to be okay. 

 

There is an acknowledging rumble inside his mind. 

 

**_If he comes near us again we will eat him._ **

 

And Eddie finds he can’t argue with that.


	2. Hoc est vindicta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie and Venom hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Click through to the end note for the warnings!

It’s not long after what happens with Luke that Eddie stops going on dates altogether. He tries, for a little while, but he just can’t shake the feeling of unease every time he meets someone for coffee, or dinner, or a drink; and the thought of bringing anyone home with him sends a cold jolt of anxiety through his system, leaving him breathless, hands shaking. Somehow, the idea of going home with anyone to their place is even worse. Venom insists that they would never let something like what had happened with Luke occur again, but Eddie can’t shake the bone-deep unease and mistrust all that same. 

 

So Eddie deletes tinder off his phone and busies himself with work - and there’s a lot of work to be busy with - so for a long time he doesn’t have the energy to even _think_ about his sex life - or lack thereof. Spending his days chasing leads and interviews for stories and his nights chasing bad guys for Venom to snack on takes up all his time and energy; he spends most of his off-hours crashed out on the couch eating takeout and watching shitty, late-night TV until he falls asleep. He’s able to recognise that it’s probably not the healthiest pattern to fall into, but it’s working. 

 

Well, sort of. 

 

He’s still not sleeping in the bed, still avoiding that side of the apartment where he can, and definitely avoiding conversation with Venom about the whole thing. Not that Venom is asking, Eddie’s shut down enough attempts at conversation for it to be a moot point. Venom could probably go rooting around in his brain for the answers they’re looking for, but Eddie likes to think that the symbiote respects his privacy and _hasn’t_ done that. It’s really the only way to maintain his sanity. 

 

***

 

He’s half-dozing, lying on the couch, the glow of the TV screen playing some stupid show about home renovations, when he feels Venom stir in the back of his mind. 

 

**_Food._ **

 

“Really?” Eddie groans, fumbling for his phone and squinting at the painfully bright screen, “It’s 1am, couldn’t you have said something earlier?” 

 

**_We were not hungry earlier._** Venom insists petulantly.

 

Eddie makes a grumbling sound of protest and drags himself up off the couch, and stumbles towards the kitchen. He runs the sink for a moment, then pour a glass of water, downing it in one long swallow, before turning the tap back on the splash water over his face. A good deal of it spills down his front. 

 

He turns to thefridge, and can already hear the cranky hiss Venom is making in the back of his mind. 

 

**_Real food._** The symbiote insists. 

 

“You wanna hunt, huh?” Eddie asks, and gets a pleased sounding rumble and a feeling of satisfaction from Venom. 

 

**_Yes._ **

 

Eddie sighs. They went hunting the night before last, and Eddie is trying to be careful so that they don’t arouse suspicion, keeping a strict schedule to their hunts. Venom, however, is of the opinion that if anyone bothers them about it, they can just bite their head off. 

 

“Fine.” Eddie goes to look for his shoes, “Lets hunt.” 

 

He feels Venom’s presence in his mind tighten, kind of like a spring coiling, all pent-up energy, ready to strike. There’s excitement there too, bright and sharp. Eddie’s slowly learning how to get a read on what Venom’s feeling at any given moment, but this is the feeling he’s the most used to. 

 

Eddie still locks his apartment door, which Venom laughs openly at. 

 

“Hey!” Eddie objects to his mirth, “If someone steals all our shit, we’re gonna have to spend our pay on buying new furniture instead of tater tots and chocolate.” 

 

**_Our._** Venom thinks smugly at him, and Eddie rolls his eyes. 

 

“Yes, our.” He agrees, “Not like I can get rid of you.” 

 

Venom’s reply is something in the vein of suggesting that Eddie wouldn’t even if he could. Eddie rolls his eyes and flips off his reflection in a car window, the gesture meant for Venom, causing a low roll of laughter to rumble through his mind. 

 

**_This way._** Venom says suddenly, tugging Eddie’s body towards an alley down beside a club. 

 

Eddie is doubtful, all alleyways outside of clubs tend to be full of are people fucking, but he’s learned that while Venom might be a weird asshole some of the time, he’s _very_ good at finding ‘snacks’, so he lets the symbiote guide them along the dark, grimy alleyway. 

 

A little way down the alley, and Eddie hears what Venom’s more sensitive hearing picked up before him. Rapid, panicked breaths, interspersed with broken sobs, high and feminine. They round a dumpster and there’s a girl who looks like she could barely be twenty-one bing backed against the wall by a taller, broader, older man, who isn’t letting up when she tries to push him away. 

 

“ ** _Get away from her_**.” Venom and Eddie speak at the same time, Venom rushing outwards to cover all of him, and Eddie sinks into it, more than used to the strange sensation by now. 

 

The girl screams, and the man tries to run, and Venom is on him in an instant, all claws and teeth and rage. Eddie closes his eyes, but even not looking and not listening, he’s preparedfor the usual sensations of disgust and discomfort, which tend to come with eating another human to wash over him. Instead, he feels something hot, more akin to vicious satisfaction than shame. It takes him a moment, but suddenly, blindingly, he gets it. This isn’t just food for Venom, in some strange, twisted, roundabout way, this is _revenge._

 

He still keeps his eyes shut. 

 

Finally satisfied, Venom pulls themselves inwards, back inside of him, and Eddie is left to face a shivering, terrified young girl in a now otherwise empty alleyway. 

 

“Uh, don’t scream?” He tries, and he’s shocked when she remains silent, “It’s okay.” Eddie adds, which doesn’t even begin to cover the situation, but it’s the first thing he can think of. “I’d tell you that he can’t bother you again, but I think you’ve already got that.” 

 

She nods, blue eyes wide and terrified. “That thing…you…it bit his head off!” She squeaks, and Eddie nods, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. 

 

“That’s uh, that’s Venom.” He explains, “He does that sometimes.”

 

“Is…is he going to eat me?” She asks, taking a hesitant step back. Eddie can see that she’s gearing up to run if she needs to, and he puts up his hands, ready to placate her and tell her she’s safe. 

 

“ ** _No._** ”Venom’s head appears next to Eddie’s. “ ** _We only eat bad guys_**.”

 

“What…what are you?” She asks, leaning in a little, curious despite her fear. 

 

“He’s a parasitic creature from another planet who lives in my body and occasionally takes control of me to chase bad guys and menace pigeons.” Eddie says, and Venom immediately turns their gaze on him with a low growl. 

 

“ ** _Not a parasite_**.” 

 

“You were eating my organs, dude!” Eddie objects.   


“Well that makes perfect sense.” The girl says, drawing herself up a little bit and wiping at her smudged mascara with one hand. “I mean, it doesn’t, but I’m pretty sure someone put something in my drink in there and that I’m hallucinating this whole thing anyway so it doesn’t matter.” Her voice rises at the end, tinging on the hysterical. 

 

“You’re not hallucinating.” Eddie assures her, reaching out and taking her hand. “Look, uh, what’s your name?” 

 

“Sarah.” 

 

“This is all real, Sarah.” Eddie tries to remember all the things he used to say interviewing scared witnesses for stories, how to calm down hysterical girlfriends and crying mothers. Somehow it all feels far away, especially when Venom, and by extension Eddie himself, are the one Sarah’s scared of. 

 

“Oh god.” Sarah wraps her other arm around herself, face pale and eyes wide, as if she might pass out at any second. “He…he was…”  


“It’s okay.” Eddie squeezes her hand as gently as he can, “He can’t hurt you, or anyone else.” 

 

“ ** _You’re safer with us than with him_**.” Venom adds, which probably doesn’t do a lot to reassure her, but Sarah gives the symbiote a watery smile nonetheless. 

 

“Thank-you.” She breathes, even though she’s shaking, and Eddie feels her squeeze back against his grip on her hand. “I’m gonna get a cab home now.” She decides. 

 

“You want me to wait with you?” Eddie offers. 

 

“Please.” Sarah’s eyes are still a little scared when she looks up at him, and she’s still got her arm wrapped around herself, as if she’s trying to make small and stay hidden. Eddie isn’t a mindreader, but he’s almost certain he knows how she’s feeling right now. 

 

“Look, for what it’s worth.” He starts, maintaining the eye contact for as long as she lets him, “Something kinda similar happened to me a while back, and uh, I guess I kinda know how you’re feeling right now? The point is, you’re not alone, okay?” 

 

“You mean someone…”  


“Wouldn’t take no for an answer, yeah.” Eddie says, and just telling her feels like something in his chest has loosened, “It was terrifying.” 

 

“Yeah.” Sarah huffs a tiny, mirthless laugh, “Did it, uh, did Venom bite his head off too?”  


 

“ ** _Yes_**.” Venom growls, “ ** _It was delicious_**.” 

 

“Ugh, Vee, too much information.” Eddie grimaces, but Sarah shoots them another tiny, watery smile. 

 

“And you’re okay now?” She asks Eddie. 

 

Eddie makes a so-so gesture, holding his hand out and wobbling it back and forth, “Mostly?” He shrugs, “Some days are better than others. Look,” he grabs the notebook from his back pocket, flips it open to a new page and scrawls his number across it, “If you need to talk about it, and there’s no-one else, you can always call me.” He offers her the page, and she looks hesitant. “I promise I’m not trying to hit on you.” He adds, and that seems to make up her mind; she takes the paper and tucks it into her purse. 

 

“Thank-you.” She says softly, and then her gaze turns to Venom, “And thank-you, too, even if I hope I never see you again.” 

 

Venom does something that might be a nod, tipping his head in her direction for a moment before fading back into Eddie’s body, settling in place. It feels more like coming home than Eddie wants to admit. 

 

They walk up the alleyway together, Eddie watching all around them for any sign of danger, Sarah looking slightly dazed and shaken. Eddie hails a cab, and makes sure she gets into it safely. 

 

He stands on the corner of the street, watching as the cab moves out into the traffic. Just as it’s rounding the corner, Sarah turns and waves to him through the back window. Eddie smiles and raises a hand back, watching until she’s out of sight. 

 

Hunching his shoulders in his jacket against the cold of the night, Eddie turns and heads for home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: In this chapter, a side character once again tries to pressure someone into sex, this time in an alleyway, ignoring their obvious fear and attempts to push them away. This same character is later eaten by Venom. 
> 
> -
> 
> This is all for now, I might end up writing some more later on, but I have a lot of real life stuff going on at the moment, as well as working on my entry for the Symbrock Big Bang, so we'll see.

**Author's Note:**

> Clarification of warnings: in this fic, a character tries to pressure another character into sex, going so far as to push them against a wall while ignoring their protests, including their repeated use of the word 'stop'. That's as far as things go though, because Venom is appropriately protective of their host.


End file.
